Hong Kong journalists’ confidence in the city’s ability to guarantee press freedom fell to an all-time low, according to an annual survey released Friday. According to AFP data, 97 percent of journalists said that their working conditions had significantly worsened.

The survey, jointly conducted by the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) and the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (HKPORI), surveyed 1,000 residents and 169 professional journalists.

The press freedom rating fell 6 points in 2021 among journalists to 26.2, an all-time low, from 42 when the survey was launched in 2013, with a higher score indicating greater confidence in press freedom, according to the system survey classifications.

97% of journalists surveyed said press freedom had “clearly declined” in the past year, with 93% saying it was because of “the government”.

The results came a day after the president of the Hong Kong Journalists Union, Ronson Chan, pleaded not guilty to obstructing law enforcement.

Chan refused to show officers his ID, police said.

Since the handover of the city to China in 1997, Hong Kong has steadily declined in the press freedom rankings.

The decline has worsened since China began cracking down on sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.

Earlier this year, Hong Kong fell 68 places to 148th in Reporters Without Borders’ annual press freedom ranking.

For comparison, in the first annual ranking in 2002, Hong Kong was ranked 18th in the world.